THE VORTEX FAMILY: A FAMILY SAGA SET IN HAITI

Solon and Olga Vortex are central characters as well as important symbols in this semi-historical novel. Solon is both father of the Vortex family
whose lives we follow in the turbulent years of 1949 and 1950, and a
figure of the Haitian nation whose repeatedly dashed hopes and
recurring tragedies press heavily on the spirit. Olga Vortex, of Arawak
Indian blood and visage, is mother of the family and figure of Ezuli,
Earth Mother, often left weeping from the press of the tragedies of the world
that are just too much for her.

During the last days of the presidency of Dumarsais Estime, who was
overthrown on May 10, 1949, and until nearly the election of
Paul E. Magloire on Oct. 10, 1950, we follow the heart-rending story of
the seven Vortex adult children, who, swept up into the spirit of the times,
run into the ancient tragic traditions of Haitian politics.

Jean Metellus weaves and connects two stories, the fictional tale of the
Vortex family, whose members seem collectively to represent the fate of the Haitian people, and an only slightly fictionalized tale of government intrigue in that year and a half from the fall of Estime until the rise of Magloire.

For many the book will be a real eye opener. There is a tendency
to think that Francois Duvalier introduced a form of political terror and
arbitrariness that was new or somehow different from what went before. Metellus carefully constructs a believable tale of political intrigue and
lawless police and army activity that matches anything in the 58 years
since the time he choose to write about.

The novel reads like two stories, one a historical and believable political
intrigue operating, then the saga of a fictional family. These two parallel
lines keep intersecting in ways I can't reveal without damaging your reading
of the story, as characters and members of the Vortex family enter into the political story of the day.

Metellus has a beautiful eye for life in an upper class Haitian family. It is
a loving and close knit family where siblings with very different characters and interests rally to help and protect one another in difficult situations. They are
not bashful about criticizing each other, but these differences do not separate them, but merely distinguish each from the other.

A central symbol that runs through the book is the important Christmas gathering that the family has each year. This brings them all back to their parents' home
to unite as family and tie themselves to their ancestors of many generations
past. Even in the direst hardships of diaspora, as many of the Vortex family
as can gather at Christmas of 1950 to keep the family together and hold out
the hope of the future for Haiti.

One particular literary device which Metellus uses seems to work much better for the English translation that it would have for the French original. Metellus
chose to leave certain words in Creole, especially words that carry a special
meaning in Haiti that wouldn't quite be captured by their French equivalents.
However, since often the French is either the same or very close to the
Creole words, this device might well have escaped the French reader. Of course this is not so in English. Richardson leaves them in Creole as
Metellus writes them, then tells us in at the bottom of the page what they
mean. Key words that point to a unique meaning and cultural setting in
Haiti seem so powerful when treated this way. Thus the parents sit on
their porch in their dodine (rocking chair), eating groits (fried pork bits), perhaps drinking maby (a Haitian drink made from flowering plants -- a new word
for me!). Or we read of rapadou (dark and solid sugar cane) on an old
aunt's shelf, or hear one daughter distinctly reject as U.S. soda for
a kola (the Haitian soda with 10 times the sugar of an U.S. cola!).
This literary device adds greatly to the delights of reading about the
everyday life of Haiti about which Metellus writes so beautifully.

Thinking back on Haitian fiction written by Haitians and translated into
English I think of the very tiny corpus of works available. The
four
novels of the Marcelin brothers,Roumain'sMASTER'S OF THE DEW,
Depestre's FESTIVAL OF THE GREASY POLE, and just a very few others.
Such great novels, so few available. Why is this? Is their such a small
market for these works, are their too few translators willing to tackle such
projects? I feel that those of us who both love and care about Haiti, but
are not comfortable in French are missing a great deal. I hope for many
more such translations in the future.

However, no matter how many translations are forthcoming, THE VORTEX FAMILY is simply not to be missed. It is a captivating book that forced me
to read it through in 24 hours. It enriched my sense of Haitian culture and
history and delighted my aesthetic sensibilities in the bargain. Few U.S. bookstores will carry this work printed in England, but I just called the
U.S. distributor and had one mailed to my home: Dufour Editions,
Chester Springs, Pa.